HarperCollins are using print on demand now for some titles, so smaller selling titles like the History of Middle-Earth 12 volume hardbacks will be always available for sale.

David states that they are going to reprint Letters in Hardback, presumably with the index that Wayne and Christina produced for the paperback edition, which would make a much better hardback copy of the book than the first edition. I also think Humphrey Carpenter's Inklings and Biography should be reissued as hardbacks.

What other hardbacks do people think should be republished?

Not so happy with this comment from David

"I am afraid the audiobook of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun is not currently scheduled for publication"

That looks like a diplomatic answer to the question, something obviously happened with this as Brian Cox recorded the book, shown on David's video trailer for the book (36 seconds into the video below).Does anyone know who Brian Cox's agent is to get his side of the story?

It also looks like the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun was the final "new" book to be released from the comments from David.

On the "unpublished material" question, what David says in Beren's interview is

We are working on a couple of projects for the autumn, but nothing at the moment of the 'previously unpublished' variety. For once it is the calendar this year that really fulfils the brief of unpublished archive material.

This is in response to Beren's question if there is anything new coming out this year (emphasis added).

So don't give up hope on other unpublished material being released! I am sure they will find something in a stack of papers somewhere one of these days...

Brian Cox' agent is available on IMDbPro (which I don't have a subscription to - anyone else? Anyone? ... Bueller? Bueller?) You can sign up for a 14 day free trial if someone wants to go that route and make the phone call (probably someone in the UK).

By the way I got pretty much the same answers from David, but notably he did not answer whether the pagination will be the same (so the paperback index will work for the new hardcovers, and vice versa) - this could easily be just an oversight but I am a tad concerned. Just have to get a copy and see! There are editorial changes to all volumes in the new HoME editions to correct various errors that have been found since the last editions were set.

By the way I got pretty much the same answers from David, but notably he did not answer whether the pagination will be the same (so the paperback index will work for the new hardcovers, and vice versa) - this could easily be just an oversight but I am a tad concerned. Just have to get a copy and see! There are editorial changes to all volumes in the new HoME editions to correct various errors that have been found since the last editions were set.

We have already established that the UK paperback and UK hardback's have exactly the same pagination, so a hardback index will work with the UK hardbacks. HC need to be careful when editing the books to make sure that the pagination remains the same, which is my main worry about this.

If anyone has the HC and HM hardbacks, are the page numbers the same, so does this index work for HM hardbacks?

there are five Ballantine/Del Rey paperbacks (mass market, 4" x 7" pocket size). BoLT1, BoLT2, Lays, Shaping and Lost Tales. These have been sold individually and in a boxed set as "The Histories of Middle-earth".

Houghton Mifflin has put out trade paperback (larger format) "History of The Lord of the Rings" books - 4 in all. These were also available individually or in a boxed set.

The Return of the ShadowThe Treason of IsengardThe War of the Ringedit The End of the Third Age (from Sauron Defeated - only the portion of the hardcover that deals with the end of LOTR).